The University of Ottawa expects to have a new head football coach hired by the end of May.

While it’s believed a hiring committee has spoken to at least five candidates (there were about 25 applications), Ottawa U’s director of sports services Sue Hylland said “the process” is not complete. Former Gee-Gees head coach Jamie Barresi, who had been with the team since 2013, stepped away from the head coaching job a month and a half ago.

It’s believed former Ottawa Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Jaime Elizondo applied for the job, but so far has not gotten an interview. Elizondo was the offensive co-ordinator with the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers, but the league suspended its operations earlier this year.

“We’re excited, we’re going through a process, we’re hoping to have a coach in place in the next 2-3 weeks,” said Hylland. “Our timeline has been sometime in May, that’s the timeline we’re sticking with. The application process has closed, we’re still looking at some things. We’re in the process, there’s no shortlist yet, we are not finished. We’ve got a bunch of applications — from some people I thought we would and from some I’m surprised at — there has been a huge positive interest.”

It’s believed a Gee-Gees legend — Neil Lumsden — is among those who have been interviewed. Lumsden has a lengthy resume in and out of football. He played for the Gee-Gees from 1972 to 1975, during which he was a four-time all-star, MVP three times and an all-Canadian three times. In 1975, Lumsden was a key member of likely the best Gee-Gees squad ever. That team went 11-0 and captured the school’s first Vanier Cup, beating Calgary 14-9. Lumsden, who was MVP of that game, rushed for 169 yards. A four-time Grey Cup champion, Lumsden had a long CFL playing career (Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton) and was GM of the Tiger-Cats when they won the Grey Cup in 1999. He was also an coach with the Guelph Gryphons and was later the athletic director at Brock University.

It’s also believed another candidate who is getting strong consideration is Jean-Vincent Posy-Audette, Barresi’s defensive co-ordinator, who has been with the Gee-Gees for four seasons. Posy-Audette moved to Ottawa U in late 2015 from the Montreal Alouettes where he was a scout and football operations assistant. A two-time all-Canadian at defensive back, Posy-Audette won the Vanier Cup as a player with the Laval Rouge et Or in 1999 before being drafted by the Toronto Argonauts. After two seasons with the Argos, he began his coaching career with the Montreal Carabins as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach. In 2007, he moved to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or and became defensive coordinator in 2012.

What is the team looking for in its next head coach?

“We need a great leader, we need a great communicator and we need a person who can come in and rally the great number of stakeholders that are involved in a football program,” said Hylland. “We need a person who can take those things on. It is a critical position for us.”

How about experience coaching at the university level, how important is that?

“Look, I have to figure experience helps, to be able to understand the university system in Canada,” said Hylland. “But it may not be the only criteria. If people can bring what I said — if they’re good leaders, great communicators, if they can unite and bring the stakeholders together — it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, if you are that kind of person, you can manage a university program. That’s what I feel, maybe others on the committee feel differently.”

How important is it that the next head coach speaks French as well as English?

“We need a balance, but think we’ll be in a very good position that we’ll likely have somebody that is bilingual — that is important criteria,” said Hylland.

While no in-person interviews could be conducted, Hylland said the interviews have moved along well.

“I think the process can work, we went through the process with our women’s hockey team and it worked,” she said. “At the end of the day, would we like to get in a room and talk a bit? Probably. That face-to-face connection is good. Can it be done this way? I believe so. Everyone is making it work, we’re not the only ones going through interviews. It’s like with anything, life is 10% what happens and 90% how you manage it — I think it can work. We have to manage it, we don’t have a choice.”

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